Sulcata not eating, but no obvious signs of sickness?

[MaggieofNarnia]

Hello!

Some of you might remember me as the owner of Darwin, a sulcata tortoise. Unfortunately in August Darwin met an early end. I was utterly devastated, however I decided to try again and bought another hatchling who I later named Lucy after a well known ecologist (Gotta stick with the scientist theme). For the first few months she was great, however he appetite and energy slowly began to dwindle to almost nothing. She has gone to a reputable reptile vet, and after a pretty thorough examination the vet could not find anything wrong with Lucy and told me that it was likely the winter months sending her into a torpor (a period of inactivity), which she mentioned may happen to some tortoises even though they don't hibernate.

That being said, she is on EcoEarth substrate and I try and keep her humidity around 70%. I offer her Mazuri and Spring Mix, but if she does eat it is usually a bite or two. She has a hide which she rarely uses as she tends to just curl up under the heat lamp in the basking area which is around 90F.

I work at a well known aquarium in the mid west and frequently work with rescue tortoises, including Sulcata's and redfoots. I'm well aware as to the potential medical conditions to watch out for, however I'm not seeing any of these on Lucy. No watery eyes or runny nose. She isn't pyramiding (the little bit she's grown). While I do believe she could be experiencing torpor, I just wanted to see if anybody else had any thoughts.

 

[Jodie]

Where did you get your baby? How was she started, did the breeder use the humid methods?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

are you using a coil bulb?

 

[Gennifer11]

I know that torts can start acting sickly when they get a parasite. It's like $30 to get their poop tested for parasites.
My vet told me that when torts start acting sick, it means they are very sick because they will try to pretend they are well and healthy. It's some sort of animal instinct to let predators think they are healthy. Alot of people on here helped me correct my setup. Since its winter I feed my tort MAZURI also but it's got a lot of protein so I try to balance it out with grassland pellets and chopped grass.

 

[Gennifer11]

Also if she's acting sick, you might want to up your temps a little bit. Basking 95-105? And everywhere else around 85-90

 

[turtlelady80]

Yeah it sounds like if all she wants to do is stay/sleep under the heat lamp, it's not warm enough in her enclosure. Bump the temps up and soak her daily. I would put a humid hide on the side close to the heat lamp so A) she has a place to hide and feel safe and B)she'll be in where it's humid.

 

[Tom]

Everyone is asking all the right questions. Most of the time when sulcatas die young its because of the problems caused by chronic dehydration soon after they first hatched. Most breeders still start them far too dry, but this doesn't kill them until weeks or months later. This might be your issue.

Low temps can also be a problem. 90 in the basking area is a bit cool. They like it hot. If its only 90 under the basking bulb what is the temp on the cool side? What about the over night low?

Coil bulbs burning their eyes can also cause the symptoms you are reporting here.

 

[MaggieofNarnia]

I'm not using a cool bulb and she is soaked in warm water daily, which usually perks her up. I know she environment she was kept in at the local pet store wasn't humid. Whether the breeder was I'm not sure. Her night time temps are around 75. is this too cool? I can bump it up some if necessary.

 

[Gennifer11]

Wait for it, I bet 4 people will come on here saying her temp is too cold . 85 minimum for nights/days and 95 minimum basking.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Maggie:

Your habitat isn't warm enough. The whole habitat should be at LEAST 80F and under the light should be around 100F. If your habitat is an open topped table, then you're going to have to cover it to keep the warm air inside.

 

[Tom]

I'm not using a cool bulb and she is soaked in warm water daily, which usually perks her up. I know she environment she was kept in at the local pet store wasn't humid. Whether the breeder was I'm not sure. Her night time temps are around 75. is this too cool? I can bump it up some if necessary.

The daily soaks are a good thing. Here is how they ought to be kept, including temperature heating and lighting info.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Some common errors to avoid:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Food suggestions:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

And finally, this one explains what goes wrong when they are started too dry, as they usually are. If you don't know the history of yours, then this will likely explain it. What is really sad about this is that you can buy a baby that seems perfectly healthy and normal in every way. It will eat, drink, explore and all seems normal. You can be doing everything "right" and for no apparent reason the tortoise stops eating, becomes lethargic and goes into a rapid decline. It has nothing to do with the care you are giving and it has everything to do with the baby's first few weeks and months before you got it. Some people call this "Hatchling Failure Syndrome". I think it should be called "Breeder Failure Syndrome".
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/